Things were beginning to take a turn for the better, much to the relief of the ponies in Ponyville. After all the excitement of the party and the appearance of a new pony, they were all excited to return to normal and to let Allegretto experience a regular day after his weeks of moving in and getting set up.
It was a bit too much to hope for, as three young fillies had heard of the arrival of a new pony and were eager to get to him to try and earn their cutie marks for playing instruments. “All right, now are we ready to go earn ourselves some cutie marks?!” Applejack’s younger sister Apple Bloom asked as they made their way to Fluttershy’s house, riding on Scootaloo’s scooter. All three had shown a massive amount of interest in trying to get Allegretto to teach them to play, and when they learned he was helping Fluttershy take care of some of her animals, they immediately took off from the Apple’s orchard, shirking their promise to help the oldest Apple, Granny Smith, make some pies.
“I don’t know, I still feel kind of bad for leaving Granny Smith like that…” Rarity’s younger sister Sweetie Belle murmured, her conscious giving her a hard time. “I mean, we promised to help her make pies today, and Applejack’s not going to like it when she finds out we lied to Granny Smith.”
The propulsion and pilot of the scooter, a young orange pegasus named Scootaloo, scoffed and swerved up the winding path to their destination, somehow retaining their balance. “It’s not lying, Sweetie Belle! We’ve helped Granny Smith make pies before, and we didn’t get our cutie marks then, so if we helped Granny it’d only be a waste of her time and ours! We’re doing her a favor!”
Sweetie Belle didn’t seem very convinced, and continued to listen to her berating conscious as they skidded to a halt in front of Fluttershy’s door. Apple Bloom was the first off and began to knock on the door, shouting for the residents. “Fluttershy! It’s me, Apple Bloom! We’re hear to talk to yer colt friend about learnin’ to play some instruments! Hurry up!” The other two fillies joined her in shouting, until it seemed they could be heard all across Equestria.
There was a commotion on the other side of the door and various shouts and squawks, and they heard the flapping of wings as a small, multicolored bird shot out of an open window and disappeared into the sky. Fluttershy answered the door as Allegretto yelled out the window, looking down at the three with a worn look on her face. “Oh, hello, girls. Is it my turn to watch you today?” she asked as Allegretto came behind her, mumbling angrily about a ’prismatic pest’. “Allegretto, we have guests,” she said, and his mood seemed to lighten almost instantly.
The three dashed in past them into a messy room, books and bandages and birdseed everywhere. “Wow, what happened in here?” Sweetie Belle asked them, oblivious to the look Allegretto was giving her. She looked around the room again, watching as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo tried to put some thing back into place. They looked back at their flanks as they cleaned, but when they didn’t see anything they instantly stopped and stood next to her. “You guys have a wrestling match or something?”
Fluttershy’s face turned a bright red as Allegretto attempted to change the subject. “Well, hello there, little fillies. It’s so nice to meet you. My name’s Allegretto. Who are you three?”
Sweetie Belle took a step forward. “I’m Sweetie Belle! I’m Rarity’s sister!”
Apple Bloom stepped forward as well. “Ah’m Apple Bloom! Ah’m Applejack’s sister!”
Scootaloo moved up with them. “I’m Scootaloo, and I’m Rainbow Dash’s number one fan!”
“We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they all three exclaimed, then ran around in a small circle, kicking up the bird seed and making an even bigger mess. It took a very large measure of control on Allegretto’s part to not react, but he managed to wait until they were done, stopping out of boredom and not exhaustion, to his chagrin.
Apple Bloom noticed that they had made a greater deal of work for the two ponies, and as she looked around at the disastrous mess her friends noticed as well. “Aww fiddlesticks, we jus’ made a bigger mess for y’all…” she whined, waiting to be reprimanded by one of the two. Her friends waited by her solemnly and they gazed up at them with large, sorrowful eyes, a trick of younger ponies to try and lessen their impending punishment.
Allegretto wasn’t about to let that work, but before he had a chance to voice his outrage at them Fluttershy stepped up. “Oh, it’s okay girls. That rainbow robin was a hoof-full anyway. He probably would’ve made a mess even if you didn’t show up.” Her forgiveness caused the girls to cheer and run around again, as Allegretto chuckled and shook his head teasingly at her. She turned, smiling, and placed her head against his, and the second long distraction gave the Cutie Mark Crusaders time to run out behind their backs. When she turned around she noticed instantly, looking across the entire room for them. “Girls?” she called quietly, glancing back at Allegretto for some kind of direction.
There was a loud blaat from upstairs, and the look of pure horror on Allegretto’s face made Fluttershy assume the worst. “My instruments!” he cried, racing upstairs towards the noise with her close behind, almost running down Angel. The bunny gave him an angry glare as he slammed open the door into Fluttershy’s bedroom, and his look of horror before was nothing compared to the one he wore right now.
The girls were all across the room, each one playing an instrument loudly and with reckless abandon. Sweetie Belle blasted another flat note from a trumpet, and the animals downstairs were in a frenzy, their sensitive ears assaulted by one sour sound after another. She picked up a tune, and began to spew mistakes left and right as Scootaloo joined her on the piano, hitting bad chord after bad chord and slamming her hooves as she did it. Apple Bloom was trying her best to keep up with a pair of cymbals, and the crash made him wince every time, his ears crying out for some kind of mercy. In a resounding fit of anger he grabbed his flute from the nightstand and blew one solid, high note that canceled out theirs. They all stopped and looked at him, wearing that same apologetic expression they had tried before.
Fluttershy stood between them, sparing the girls his wrath for the time being. “Allegretto, they didn’t know any better… They were just trying to get their cutie marks. I’m sure they’re very sorry.” She smiled at him, and his anger abated, but didn’t vanish altogether. “Now girls, maybe we should leave Allegretto alone for a minute. Why don’t you run into town with me? I have some things I need to pick up.”
With looks of pure relief, they filed out of the room, trying not to cringe when he passed his furious gaze over them. “We’re sorry, mister Allegretto,” Scootaloo said, her head so low to the ground her mane brushed it. “We just wanted to find our talents…”
Allegretto narrowed his eyes, then took a deep breath and let his anger dissipate completely. He didn’t necessarily approve of what they did, but to be angry about it now wouldn’t solve anything. “Look, just… Just give me a while to get my things in order, then I’ll see about teaching you how to play something.” He caught the grateful look from Fluttershy as they all filed out the door, leaving him with his possibly shattered instruments. “It’s going to be a very long day,” he muttered, opening the lid on his piano.
“Now y'all ought to be very ashamed of yerselves!” Applejack was busy scolding the Crusaders, Rarity and Rainbow Dash on either side. “Y'all promised to help Granny Smith today, and ya ended up runnin’ off to go bother our newest pardner!” She glared at them, having been told the whole story when she caught them out with Fluttershy, who stood a bit away to avoid the yelling. “Now Ah got half a mind to let that colt punish ya as he wants! But it ain’t all up to me, lucky fer you!” She looked to either side of her for one of her friends to step in.
Rarity took point, glaring at Sweetie Belle especially. “Now, that pony is trying his best to fit in here, and he doesn’t need you three making that any harder for him! Now, when he gets here I want each of you to apologize and offer to clean up the mess you made, then you’re going right to the Apple orchard to… to… Oh drat, Applejack, do you have anything for them to do?”
“Ah reckon they could sort the apples into the bushels or sumthin’. But Big Mac said he was gunna do that this mornin’, and I bet he’s done it already.” She thought for a minute, looking to Rainbow Dash. “Ya got any ideas, Rainbow?”
Rainbow Dash snapped out of a daydream and looked at them, befuddled. “Huh? I’m just here because you guys told me to. I haven’t been listening.” She ignored their looks of disappointment, floating lazily on the breeze as Rarity and Applejack continued to list possible punishments.
This continued in much the same way for several minutes until Allegretto finally came along, looking even more tired than before, and what really drew the eye was Angel laid across his back. Fluttershy hurried over to check on her little bunny pal while Allegretto glared at the Crusaders. “You girls best thank Celestia you didn’t break anything. If you had, I would’ve left you to your sisters and Rainbow Dash.” He looked up at the older fillies and blew his mane from his face. “As it is right now, I’m going to ask you not punish them. I actually have something else in mind for them.” He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out three small instruments: a piccolo, a triangle, and bongos. “Now, if it’s okay with your sisters, I have a bit of a deal to strike with you. I want each of you to take one of these instruments and practice a little each day, then at the end of a week I want to hear what you’ve learned.” He smiled when they squealed and ran to take one each, Apple Bloom the triangle, Scootaloo the bongos, and Sweetie Belle the piccolo. They all laughed and began to belt out notes, but being the simple instruments they were, there wasn’t nearly as many sour notes produced. “Now, there’s a catch,” he continued, and they all set down their gifts and looked at him with rapt attention. “This doesn’t mean you can skip doing things to play, and this also doesn’t mean you can annoy ponies with them. If your sisters think it’s the right thing to do, they have every right to take them from you.”
Scootaloo looked at him with a bit of slyness that he didn’t appreciate. “How’re you gonna know if I do anything bad with my instrument?” she said with an air of superiority, tapping a few times on her bongos. “I don’t have a sister who can take mine away.”
He sighed and turned to look at Rainbow Dash. “I hope I can trust you to keep an eye on her sometimes?” he asked. He didn’t know about the Elements of Harmony, much less that Rainbow Dash was loyalty, and a smaller pony than her would’ve been insulted.
As it was though, she just saluted him and somersaulted in the air. “You can count on me, colt!” she said, swooping down to tap on the bongos. This made Scootaloo beam with joy, and it was evident this is what she wanted to happen all along. Watching all these fillies with their older sisters, and in the case of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo a relationship very close to siblings, made his heart pang for both his corrupted brother and his missing sister, and reminded him of the looming confrontation that was shaping up in a little under a year. According to Twilight, Princess Celestia sent out guards to search the theater hall he had told them about, but the Concertos had long since gone away.
Fluttershy noticed a look she had come to recognize on him, when he was thinking about his past and the Concertos, and went to nuzzle next to him. “I know you’re still worried,” she whispered, watching the fillies play with their gifts. “But that’s a long time from now, and everypony says it’ll be okay. So just trust us, okay?”
He looked over to her, smiling tiredly, and without warning planted a kiss right between her eyes, chuckling when her face turned a vivid red. The Crusaders stopped playing for a minute to whisper and giggle as their guardians exchanged a look of happiness. Fluttershy mumbled something under her breath, and rather than repeat it she leaned against him and nestled her head under his. The Crusaders, seeing that there would be no more smooching, began to play with their instruments again.
Of course, they should’ve realized that music usually signifies a party, and before any of them had realized, Pinkie Pie came bounding up with a kazoo, joining the fillies in their music-making with a gusto Allegretto and Angel wished they could muster. The kazoo playing became erratic after a moment, and Pinkie finally dropped it to laugh. “Oh wow, I can’t believe we’re having a music party! I love music, not as much as singing and throwing parties and baking of course, but it’s my fourth most favorite-est thing ever! Hey…” she said, eyes shifting back and forth between the gathered ponies. “How come nopony came and told me there was going to be a music party? It’s my job to know about all the parties in Ponyville, otherwise I’ll have to give up my Party Pony status!”
Before anypony could respond, Twilight came walking up with Spike on her back holding a book and several scrolls. Allegretto had long since stopped wondering how they all managed to converge at some point or another throughout the day, chalking it up to one of those unexplained forces, like Fluttershy’s talent with animals or Pinkie in general. “Hey, everypony! What’s with the big get together?”
Pinkie was immediately upon her, grabbing her head between both hooves and knocking Spike off by accident. “Oh Twilight, they didn’t invite you either?!” She looked back the rest of them and stuck her tongue out. “You meanies! You know music is my fourth most favorite-est thing ever, and Twilight needs some pony interaction, being cooped up in that dusty old library all day!”
Spike shook the stars from his vision and gathered his literature, walking over to stand with the rest of them, making sure to keep a comfortable distance from Allegretto. While he no longer perceived Allegretto as a threat to his relationship with Rarity, per se, they hadn’t gotten enough time to know each other, and stayed mutual acquaintances for the time being. “What is she talking about?” he asked nopony in particular, adjusting the papers in his arms.
“Pinkie Pie seems to think that we’re throwin’ a party without ‘er,” Applejack responded, and that seemed to be all the explanation that Spike needed as she went over to the unpredictable pony. “Pinkie, ain’t nopony throwin’ a party without you, sugar cube. We was just scoldin’ the littleun’s here, and Allegretto seems to think that givin’ ‘em instruments is gonna keep ‘em outta trouble!” She looked back at him with one eyebrow cocked. “And he better know that Ah’ll be seein’ him if this don’t work.”
Pinkie let Twilight’s head go suddenly and scratched her head. “So, if we do bad things, Allegretto gives us instruments?!” she asked incredulously, a twinkle coming to her eye that gave every pony the chills. Without warning she grabbed a hunk of mud off of the ground and chucked it, covering Allegretto and Fluttershy in the wet earth. She was right before him in a second and wiggling excitedly. “I want a xylophone!” she exclaimed, not noticing the glare that Allegretto had been using to no avail all day.
Again he felt anger flare in him, nipping at the back of his head like a hungry animal, but he also realized that anger wouldn’t be the best course of action. Pinkie was just Pinkie, and he couldn’t be mad at her for that. “Sorry, Pinkie, it was an offer for the Crusaders only,” he explained, trying his best to remove the clumps of mud from Fluttershy’s mane. “I mean, if you want, I guess I could find something for you to play…”
Pinkie thought it over for a moment, then shook her head so quickly it was a blur of pink. “Nope! I just realized that if I tried to learn to play an instrument then I wouldn’t have time to write songs or bake or throw parties! You silly music ponies can have the instruments, just leave the important things to the Party Ponies like me!”
He was about to argue his case for learning to play an instrument, then realized that Pinkie was a bit of a handful herself. It probably wouldn’t be in the best interest of everypony involved to give her another facet of Pinkie-ness, so he shrugged and let her decision stand. “If that’s your choice.” He looked back at the Crusaders with a touch of mirth in his eyes. “And I’m serious, girls. I want to hear what you can do in one week, and I’ll be in touch with your sisters to make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Apple Bloom stopped beating on her triangle and stood as tall as she could, her friends joining her almost instantly. “Ya ain’t gotta worry ‘bout us, mister Allegretto! We give ya our word we ain’t gonna use these instruments bad! Cutie Mark Crusaders honor!” They all threw him a salute, seemingly rehearsed because of how expertly timed it was, then continued to produce note after note of happy amateur music.
Rarity watched the girls for a minute, then glanced up at the sky and did a double-take. “Twilight! We’re late for our spa date!” she exclaimed, running over to her magical partner and tugging on her tail. “Come on, now! If we’re any later we’ll lose our reservations!” She didn’t give Twilight time to respond, and barely enough time to wave feebly before dragging her away.
Applejack glanced at the sky herself and nodded once, smiling. “It is gettin’ late. Sweetie Belle, Ah reckon you can stay with us for th’ night. Knowin’ yer sister, they ain’t due home for a while. Spike, ya think ya can handle yerself?”
The tiny dragon puffed his chest out and held his scrolls with an air of importance they didn’t quite have before. “Yeah, I’ll be fine! I’ve had to watch out for myself before, trust me. Don’t worry!” he boasted, then began swaggering off towards the library as they watched him go, trying their best to not giggle as his overly inflated ego. The sunlight was rapidly waning, and the others said their goodbyes as Allegretto, Fluttershy, and Angel made their ways to their respective homes.
Allegretto had fallen back to thinking now that he wasn’t distracted, and Fluttershy tried her best to think of something to say that would make him feel better and to forget his brother, if even for a night. “Umm, Allegretto? Would you maybe help me clean up a little bit? I mean, if you want to…” With his confidence down, hers plummeted as well, and she was finding it harder and harder to talk without mumbling.
Allegretto let a small sigh escape, and lowered his head even further. “Angel and I already took care of it,” he said distantly, not looking at her as his mind raged and his anxiety spoke whispers of doubt into his ear. He knew she was worried, and that made him feel even worse because of his emotional unavailability, but he made a promise to himself to not drag her into his past any further.
Fluttershy looked away at the ground. “Oh…” She walked along in silence for a minute, trying to find another way to get him to talk to her. “I, uh… I didn’t expect you to… to kiss me… Especially not in front of everypony…” she whispered, trying her best to fight the heat rising to her cheeks, and out of the corner of her eye she saw him smile just barely. “And… I’m really happy you offered to help today… with the robin. That was really nice…”
Allegretto stopped at the split in the road that marked their separate ways, one road leading to his house and one to hers. Many a long dusk was spent with them chatting, not wanting to leave each others company for another few minutes, and tonight was no exception. “Fluttershy, can I ask you something?” he blurted suddenly, finally turning to look at her.
“Yes?” she asked, enjoying the light she saw in his topaz eyes. She felt a tingle in the air, a special charge like lightning was about to strike, yet the sky was clear as a bell. She realized that the charge was crawling all over her, and her wings twitched once out of excitement.
He started to speak, then seemed to rethink it. He repeated this several times, and she fought the urge to giggle lovingly at him. Finally, he gathered himself and forced it out. “Do you think I’m a bad pony for what I’ve done?” he asked, ashamed to look at her now that it was out. “I mean, ignorance may make it better, but… I’ve hurt so many ponies. And I’m putting more ponies in danger. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, the Crusaders… And you. I can’t… Fluttershy, I can’t put you in danger like this.”
She was shocked and touched by his concern, and that tingle became a charge that wanted to pull her towards him. “Allegretto… I would’ve left if I was scared… And normally, I am scared…” she began, moving closer to him, obeying that charge as her confidence began to rise. “But I’m not as scared when you’re around. You make me feel stronger. And I want to be there for you as much as you are for me.” She drew even closer, and she could tell the charge was passed on to him, because he leaned in as much as she did. Angel seemed to sense what was going on, and hopped back to Fluttershy’s to give them their own precious privacy. “Allegretto, you’re not a bad pony. A bad pony would’ve stayed, and left Octavia for himself, and never would have stood up to Adagio.”
He was unable to break eye contact with her, and now they were so close he could smell the scent of nature that he loved so much on her. “When you were there is the first time I stood up to him face to face. I… I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”
“And now I’m not going to let him hurt you. None of us are. So you don’t have to worry about it…” She placed her forehead on his, their signal for a heart to heart moment, a gesture of warmth and safety and support. She breathed deeply and tried to transfer her calmness to him, realizing the irony of it but not dissuaded by it. “Allegretto, no matter what happens, I… I…”
He chuckled. “I… I… you too,” he said, and their lips suddenly collided in the last moments of sunlight, and while they both wanted it to happen, it was still a surprise for them both that neither was pulling away. It lasted for only a minute, but time had stretched, and that twilight was nearly an eternity for them. When they both finally did pull away, Allegretto had a new mirth in his eyes, and smiled so warmly Fluttershy wanted to kiss him again. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”
“For kissing you?” she asked, befuddled, and it didn’t even register until after she said it that they’d just become intimate. Once it did, her face flared like the sun and her heart raced like an Iron Pony Competition, thundering in her ears.
He laughed and shook his head. “No, for giving me another reason to fight back against Adagio.” He raised his head to the sky and sighed, watching the stars grow in intensity. “It’s going to be a cold night, isn’t it?” he asked, even as he watched her shiver.
She nodded, her mind racing along thousands of paths of pure joy as she watched her colt with adoration. Her colt. She said it in her head again and again, and the shivers he perceived weren’t of cold, but excitement, as she nodded towards her house. “Tree homes can get very drafty…” she said, leaving the end hanging as she turned slowly down her own path.
Allegretto raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin. “Miss Fluttershy, what are you suggesting? That doesn’t seem very timid.”
She lowered her head and glanced over at him with a blush. “Well, you make me a little more confident…” she whispered amorously. “And… My bed gets a little cold, too…” she admitted, watching him for his reaction and hoping for a very specific one.
He didn’t say anything, fearing that it would spoil their moment, but rather followed her as they made it back to her house so close they were almost one pony in body and heart.
Author's Note: This is more of a "not moving too quickly" chapter that I used to flesh out the main (mane?) relationship and add the Cutie Mark Crusaders to the tale. Also, I know how it looks, but I'm a bit hesitant about making this "sleepover" sexual rather than intimate. I think I'll just leave it as intimate, and hopefully that won't detract at all from the story itself. So, it is a night of embracing. That is all. Sorry to disappoint, if I did.